Under-21s Take Opening National League Cup Group Stage Victory

Everton Under-21s got their National League Cup Group C campaign off to a winning start with a deserved 1-0 victory over Hartlepool United at Victoria Park. 

Rocco Lambert's first-ever Under-21s goal proved the difference in a game that was far from a classic, but Everton dug deep when they needed to and grew into the game as it progressed.

Goalkeeper Fraser Barnsley was called into action after just three minutes when he was decisive and braced to thwart Matthew Taylor as the striker ran through on goal.

The National League hosts controlled possession for large parts of the first 45 minutes without really posing a serious threat to Barnsley’s goal.

Skipper Noah Gilbraith had three efforts, the first of which deflected kindly into the keeper's hands before attempting a sliced effort that looped just over the crossbar and a header that went wide.

It was Everton who got the only goal of the half – and the game – in the ninth minute. Luis Gardner played a fine pass from centre-half through to an onside Lambert, who produced a really cool finish to give the Toffees the lead.

In truth, neither keeper was overworked before the break – an inadvertent back header from Harvey Foster that nearly crept into the corner of the net was Barnsley’s biggest worry.

Everton began brightly after the restart and went on to have more control of the ball in the second period.

Lambert headed straight at Harry Conyard in the Hartlepool goal after excellent approach play from Braiden Graham and Josh van Schoor before Melvin Matos sprinted down the right and lashed a low cross into the box that nobody got on the end of.

Everton came closest to doubling their advantage in the 73rd minute. Gardner played another superb long pass into the left channel and van Schoor slid the ball past the keeper but just wide of the upright.

In the 90th minute substitute Ceiran Loney pulled an angled drive off target but the Toffees held on superbly to take a deserved victory in their opening group stage game.

Speaking after the game, Dave Hughes told evertonfc.com: "It wasn’t a classic, but what we’ve said to the players is that if you’re going to have a career, then not every game will be what you want it to look like. The pitch was a bit sticky but that’s not making excuses for us because we didn’t pass the ball at the level we’re capable of. What we did do was show some resilience to deal with balls on top of us and long throws, which are parts of the game that perhaps the players don’t always get to experience.

"We grew into the game and scored a really good goal. It was a super pass from Luis and a great run and finish from Rocco. We had chances to get a second which we didn’t take and ultimately, we need to be pleased that we won the game and kept a clean sheet but also accept that we’ve got some areas where we need to continue to evolve and grow.

"The reality is that you don’t want to lose and you want the players to understand that they’ll need to show different qualities to find a way to win. That was evident in the performance tonight. We’ve started the competition with a positive result. Probably the area that we have to show is controlling the play and dominating the ball and get our attacking players into areas where they can show their qualities and hurt the opposition.

"We didn’t do that as often as we could and you can say all credit to Hartlepool."